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Best Cook in Town: Memorable Leftovers

Courtney Hunter makes do, elegantly

by Edie Clark

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When Courtney Hunter sees her friends toss out leftovers, she shudders. "This is the best part!" she cries. Courtney takes leftovers to a new high. Her friends call her cooking specialty "Yankee chic."

Today, in her efficient Jamestown, Rhode Island, kitchen, Courtney is working with the pot roast she made for dinner the night before. "Andy and I already had a great meal from this, but this one is going to be much better," she says as she separates the meat from the vegetables.

The leftover meal will become "pot roast ravioli," inspired by her college year abroad in Florence, Italy. Her first night there she crossed the street to a small restaurant, where she met Claudio, the owner. That night, he fed her, but soon he was to become her mentor and dear friend, and in his tiny 9x9-foot kitchen, he taught her to cook.

She was on a student budget, and he helped her get by on very little. He taught her to make pasta and to make ravioli stuffed with leftovers. "He used to put all kinds of things in there," she remembers. "I made this recipe up, but it was inspired by Claudio."

It's doubtful Claudio could have taught her to be the bargain hunter that she became. "I got this for a dollar!" she boasts, holding up a large can of San Marzano tomatoes. "This would usually cost three dollars." Her cast-iron pot was acquired for a quarter at a yard sale. She can quote chapter and verse on the price of beef or, well, the price of anything. Her husband Andy calls her a sale-shopping genius.

It's not all about price, though. With Courtney, there's a need for elegance. Dinner means white napkins and family silver. She and Andy, a landscaper and artist, have transformed their house, a little Cape on a side street, into a visual treat, with a formal garden on the side lawn. Inside, the small rooms sparkle with imaginative décor, most of it junk-shop finds. This is her art form, her passion -- making do, elegantly.

"I mean, it's just so much more fun that way," she observes as she places the ravioli, smothered in mushrooms and sauce, onto china plates. "It just wouldn't be the same if we just went out and bought everything."

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Find additional recipes from Courtney for pot roast, tomato sauce, and more!

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Giant Pot Roast Ravioli

Pasta Recipes | Meat Recipes

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Preparation Time: 50 minutes

Start to Finish Time: 70 minutes

Yield: 1 dozen large ravioli (3 dozen using wonton wrappers)

• Leftover veggies and pot roast
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 pound fresh mushrooms, roughly sliced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Pasta Dough (substitute store-bought dough or egg roll or wonton wrappers)
• Kosher or sea salt

Remove cooked vegetables from pot (discard bay leaves) and chop roughly. Shred beef with your hands. Combine vegetables and beef in a bowl and set aside. Using a fine sieve, strain leftover sauce from pot into a second bowl. Add any remaining solids from sauce to vegetables and beef. (Meat-and-vegetable mix should now have a dry, hashlike consistency.) Gently heat leftover sauce over medium-low setting. Whisk in butter. In a medium sauté pan over high heat, cook mushrooms in olive oil. Add to sauce.

Cut your Pasta Dough into 6x6-inch squares and spread them around a board. Using your hands, make a small ball (about 3 tablespoons) of meat-and-vegetable mix and place it in the center of a pasta square. (If you're using wonton wrappers, make it 1 tablespoon.)

Repeat with remaining squares. Dab a small amount of water along outside edges of each square and fold in half, creating a triangle. Seal edges well.

Drop finished ravioli into boiling salted water and cook 6 to 8 minutes (3 if you're using wontons).

Using a slotted spoon, transfer cooked ravioli to warm sauce, and toss gently to coat. Serve immediately.

Pasta Dough

• 8 large eggs
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1/2 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
• 4 cups flour, plus extra for dusting

In a small bowl, combine eggs, yolks, oil, and salt, and set aside. Place flour into the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. With the motor on, add egg mixture; then pulse just until a stiff dough forms. Scrape dough onto floured surface and knead until dough is shiny and elastic. (Use more flour if necessary.)

Cover dough with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let rest at least 20 minutes. Cut dough into 4 pieces. Using a pasta machine or by hand, roll out to 1/16-inch thickness, and set aside.

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